Outdoors: Presence of right whales warrants concern

Tuesday

Jan 29, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Mark Blazis Outdoors

Strange things continue to happen in our wildlife world. On Jan. 12, a North Atlantic right whale mother and calf were found living in Cape Cod Bay.

With a global population under 500, they are one of the rarest species in the world. Their abnormal presence now warrants concern. Normally, they’d be off the warmer Florida or Georgia coasts now. Their presence casts light on several local dangers.

Most right whale fatalities are caused by ship strikes, net entanglements, increasing water noise that interferes with their communication, and habitat destruction. We can see evidence of local environmental changes and pollution affecting an unknown number of species at Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station in Plymouth.

The big energy producer significantly impacts aquatic life in Cape Cod Bay, discharging massive volumes of warm water — as much as 32 degrees warmer than normal.

Fishermen for several years have been lamenting rising temperatures in the bay, blaming it for prematurely ending the striped bass fishing there each summer. It’s wrong when Pilgrim’s thermal pollution extends into the right whale’s protected habitat and contributes to increasing temperatures.

Unusual things are going on in the local bird world, too. Eastern hummingbirds, as everyone who puts out a nectar feeder knows, are all ruby throated. They’re mostly all back in Mexico for the winter.

But Brewster bird bander Susan Finnegan reported that they had unexpected company this past summer. Massachusetts birders began seeing totally out-of-range rufous hummingbirds in surprising numbers, leading her and other nature observers to wonder if this is another example in an increasing list of range expansions due to global warming.

In addition, some very unusual birds have shown up this week in the Royalston and Hadley areas. It’s been a while since we’ve had pine and evening grosbeaks migrate down here in winter.

The additional presence of seldom-seen vesper sparrows, clay-colored sparrows and a gyrfalcon there has birders from all over the country ready to descend on the area en masse.

Worcester taxidermist Tim Johnson recently reported mounting an unusual set of antlers that looked like a big cauliflower. The single base of the rack was the size of Johnson’s fist, emerging centrally like a clump of sharp, gnarly coral.

Its density, which normally would be solid bone, was surprisingly more like balsa wood. The atypical, fully mature buck, though 4½ years old, had a small neck and long nose — two features more characteristic of a diminutive doe. The reason for its abnormal development was readily apparent.

The “cauliflower buck” had had a severe testicular injury, which invariably causes subsequent antler deformations. This highly unusual deer, like similarly injured bucks, carried its bizarre rack year-round, never shedding it. It was likely at great disadvantage when fighting against even yearling spikes and would have been unable to breed.

Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration continues its remarkable support of sportsmen, the environment and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife.

While land agent Brandon Kibbe reported the acquisition of 14 more acres for the Hitchcock Mountain Wildlife Management Area in East Brookfield, the governor was digging the first shovelful of earth for the architecturally historic construction of the new MassWildlife headquarters in Westboro.

Scheduled to be finished in 2014, it will be a first-for-the-nation, zero-net-energy state office building. Its revolutionary design, including space for laboratories and hunter-education classes, will feature a geothermal heating and cooling system, solar panels, innovative mechanical systems, radiant ceilings and outside air ventilation with heat recovery.

Needing 60 percent less energy than comparably sized buildings, it will be a model of energy efficiency and natural resource conservation.

With rumors flying that Patrick is in his final term as governor, many are beginning to appreciate his stellar environmental record, and worrying that his replacement may come up far short of his lofty contributions to conservation and sportsmen.

It’s good to hear that John O’Leary, one of Worcester County’s best outdoor writers and shooting authorities, is on the mend.

After missing most of the hunting season and atypically not filling his freezer with venison, he’s ready again to help others improve their trap and skeet shooting scores at the Leicester Rod & Gun Club. The only individual not too pleased with his recovery is a big buck with whom he had to postpone a rendezvous ’till next season.